Adjustable chair construction



Patented May 6, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ADJUSTABLE CHAIR CONSTRUCTION Robert H. Sperring,. Oak Park, Ill'.,. assignor to N T. Shepherd Chair Company, Salt Lake City, Utah; a' corporation of Utah Application February 16, 1951, Serial'No. 211,384

9' Claims.

This invention relates to adjustable chair. constructions and more particularly to adjustable posture type chairs.

In. posture type chairs asheretofore manufactured, either the seat or the back has been adjustable to fit the chair to a particular user. The adjustable part has usually been held in its adjusted position by a spring latch or thelike arranged beneath the seat or at the back of the chair, and. in this position it is inconvenient to reach the latch if adjusting the chair. Such latches also require that-the user be in a position remote from the normal sitting position when making adjustment so-that frequently it is neces sary to try a number of adjustments. to be sure the proper one is found.

It is one of the objects of. the present invention to provide a chair in which the seat and. back-can be quickly and conveniently adjusted relative toeach other to fit the user. According to one important feature of the invention, the adjustment can be made from aposition closely adjacent to the normal sitting position.

Another object is to provide a chair: which is normally held firmly against relative movement of the parts and which can be releasedfor adjustment merely by raising the seat slightly;

Still another object is to provide a chair in which. the parts are held against. relative. movement by a reduced circular'tip' on the. supporting post fittinginto an axially aligned circular recess so that there will be no interferencewith swivel' ing of the chair.

The above and other objects andadvantages of this invention will be more readily apparent from the following description when readin connection with. the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure lis a side elevation of. a chair embodying the invention;

Figure 2is apartial vertical sectionthrough the supporting post with partsv in elevation;

Figure 3 is a partial plan view on the line 3-3 of Figure 2 Figure 4 isa partial section similar to Figure 2 of an alternative construction.

The chair is illustrated as an ofiice type posture chair having legs supported on casters, H and carrying a central base member l2. The legs as seen in Figure 2 may extend into the base member to be secured thereto by welding or the like and the legs and base-member together support a centra1 sleeve or collar l3. A main supporting post it is slidablein the collar 13- and is provided with a series of spaced perforations l5 to receive a spring latch member It so that the elevation otthe chair can easily be adjusted.

At its upper end the post is slidably received in a sleeve 16 which is atached to a channel shaped guide bracket ll rigidly secured to the jj' bottom of a seat plate [8. The seat plate 18 may 2. be padded or upholstered as indicated at 19 in Figure 1 in the usual manner. As seen in Figure 2 the sleeve fits into an opening in the bottom of the bracket I! so that the post can extend com-- pletely to the seat plate.

Aback support 2|- isprovided which is preferably adjustable on an angular supporting member 22 which may be formed of a relatively strong metal strap or bar bent intermediate its ends. The back support 2| is carried by the vertically projecting end of the bar and the lower horizontal portion thereof extends slidably through the guide space between the seat and the channel shaped bracket ll. The lower horizontal end of thebar is formed with a series of spaced circular M will fit into one of the openings and will hold.

the supporting member 22 rigidly against sliding. At this time the weight of the user is borne by the upper-end of the post I4 through the seat plate 18 so that the guide It is required to carry only lateral or bending stress and does not carry the weight.

To release the supporting member 22 for adjusting movement, the seat can be elevated slightly to remove the reduced tip 24 from the registering opening 2-3 so that the supporting member can then slide freelyin the channel shaped bracket. Preferably the post is provided with an annular groove 25 and a pin 26 is carried by the sleeve It to project into the groove to limit raising; of the seat relative to the post. It will be noted that the supporting member can be released very easily with the user in a position very close to the usual sitting position so that the desired adjustment. can be effected. rapidly andaccurately. With the seat in its lowered position it can swivelfreely about the post since the reduced tip and the opening into which it fits lie on an extension of the po'staxis. Thus, a very simple construction is provided by which the desired adjustment of the back can be made quickly and conveniently.

Figure 4 illustrates an alternative construction in. which the seat itself is adjustable. In this figure parts correspondingto like parts in Figures l-3. have been indicated. by the same reference numerals plus 100. As shown, the sleeve 116- carries a supporting plate H1 on which the seat-plate l l8 is slidably mounted. As illustrated, the seat plate H82 carries offset bracket mem-. bers I21 which slidably fit over the edges of the supporting plate I I1 although any other slidable guide means could be employed. In this constructlon, the back support, not shown in Figure formed by pressing upward the material of the seat plate although they could be drilled if de- 7 sired. This construction operates in much the same manner as that of Figures 1-3 to hold the seat plate firmly in adjusted position when the seat is lowered to release it for free sliding adi justment when the seat is raised. 7

While two embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail, it will be understood that these are illustrative only and not to be taken as a definition of the scope of the invention, reference being had for this purpose to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A chair comprising a base, a supporting post extending upward from the base, a sleeve fitting slidably over the upper end of the post, a guide member carried by the sleeve, and a' supporting member slidably carried by the guide member, and formed with a series of spaced recesses therein, the upper end of the post being formed to fit into the recesses to hold the supporting member against sliding.

2. A chair comprising a base, a supporting post extending upward from the base, a sleeve fitting slidably over the upper end of the post, a guide member carried by the sleeve, and a supporting member slidably carried by the guide member and formed with a series of spaced circular recesses, the upper end of the post being formed with a reduced circular tip to fit into the recesses to hold the supporting member against sliding without interfering with turning of the sleeve and guide member on the post.

3. A chair comprising a base, a supporting post extending upward from the base, a sleeve fitting slidably over the upper end of the post, a guide member carried by the sleeve, and a supporting member slidably carried by the guide member and formed with a series of spaced circular recesses, the upper end of the post being formed with a reduced circular tip to fit into the recesses to hold the supporting member against sliding without interfering with turning of the sleeve and guide member on the post, the post having an annular groove therein, and a reduced pin on the sleeve projecting into the groove to limit axial sliding of the sleeve on the post.

4. A chair comprising a base, a supporting post extending upward from the base, a seat, a channel shaped guide member secured to the bottom of the seat, a sleeve projecting down from the guide member andfitting slidably over the upper end of the post and a back support including an elongated bar fitting slidably in the guide member and formed with a series of spaced recesses, the upper end of the post being formed to fit into the recesses to hold the bar against sliding.

Y 5. A chair comprising a base, a supporting post extending upward from the base, a seat, a channel shaped guide member secured to the bottom of the seat, a sleeve projecting down from the guide member and fitting slidably over the upper end of the post, and a back support including an elongated bar fitting slidably in the guide mem- 4 ber and formed with a series of spaced circular recesses, the upper end of the post being formed with a reduced circular tip to fit into the recesses to hold the bar against sliding without interfering with turning of the seat on the post.

6. A chair comprising a base, a supporting post extending upward from the base, a seat, a channel shaped guide member secured to the bottom of the seat, a sleeve projecting down from the guide member and fitting slidably over the upper end of the post, and a back support including an elongated bar fitting slidably in the guide member and formed with a series of spaced circular recesses, the upper end of the post being formed with a reduced circular tip to fit into the recesses to hold the bar against sliding without interfering with turning of the seat on the post, the post having an annular groove' therein adj acent to its top, and a reduced pin on the sleeve projecting into the groove to limit axial sliding of the sleeve on the post.

7. A chair comprising a base, a supporting post extending upward from the base, a sleeve fitting slidably over the upper end of the post, a guide plate carried by the sleeve, a seat slidably carried by the guide plate and having a series of recesses therein in a line parallel to its direction of sliding and registering with the top of the post, the top of the post being formed to fit into the recesses to hold the seat against sliding.

8. A chair comprising a base, a supporting post extending upward from the base, a sleeve fitting slidably over the upper end of the post, a guide plate carried by the sleeve, a seat slidably oarried by the guide plate and having a series of circular recesses therein in a line parallel to its direction of sliding and crossing the axis of the post, the upper end of the post being formed with a reduced circular tip to fit into the recesses to hold the seat against sliding Without interfering with turning of the guide sleeve and seat on the post.

9. A chair comprising a base, a supporting post extending upward from the base, a sleeve fitting slidably over the upper end of the post, a guide plate carried by the sleeve, a seat slidably carried by the guide plate and having a series of circular recesses therein in a line parallel to its direction of sliding and crossing the axis of the post, the upper end of the post being formed with a reduced circular tip to fit into the recesses to hold the seat against sliding without interfering with turning of the guide sleeve and seat on the post, the post having an annular groove therein, and a reduced pin on the sleeve projecting into the groove to limit axialsliding of the sleeve onthe post.

ROBERT H. SPERRING.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,195,241 Cramer Mar. 26, 1940 2,454,057 Grunwald Nov. 16, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 604,566 France Jan. 29, 1926 

